The Dallas Cowboys are "hopeful" middle linebacker Rolando McClain will attend their final three Organized Team Activities next week. Dallas winds up its second week of OTAs on Thursday, and McClain has missed all six practices in Phase 3 of the Cowboys' offseason program.

"Rolando's dealing with a family issue in Alabama," Dallas coach Jason Garrett said during a Wednesday press conference. " ... He will not be here tomorrow. We're hopeful he'll be back next week."

Running back Darren McFadden has missed this week's workouts, too.

"We want all of our players here," Garrett said. "Sometimes situations come up where they have to deal with things. In each of those cases, it's family situations. So we have to be respectful of that. We certainly want our players here. We believe in OTAS. We believe in the offseason program. It's not a mandatory time, though. It's a voluntary time, so we try to be respectful of the situation they're dealing with."

The Cowboys practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week before their mandatory minicamp, which is scheduled for June 14-16.

McClain also missed Dallas' OTAs last year. He had offseason knee surgery and did his rehabilitation in Alabama rather than with the NFL team.

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After playing at Decatur High School, McClain was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and the winner of the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker for Alabama's BCS national championship team in 2009.

The Oakland Raiders selected McClain with the eighth pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. McClain spent three seasons with Oakland before being released on April 5, 2013. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens seven days later, but he announced his retirement on May 15, 2013, saying he needed to focus on his personal life. McClain was arrested three times between Dec. 1, 2011, and April 21, 2013.

In April 2014, McClain worked out for the Ravens after meeting with Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome in Tuscaloosa. He was reinstated by the Ravens, but retired again the next week.

The Cowboys acquired McClain on July 1, 2014, in a trade with the Ravens. Dallas sought McClain after Cowboys middle linebacker Sean Lee suffered a knee injury during offseason workouts that would keep him off the field for the 2014 season.

He signed another one-year contract with Dallas for the 2015 season. McClain again worked as the Cowboys' middle linebacker, even though he missed the preseason because of his knee rehab and sat out the first four games of the regular season after being suspended by the NFL for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.